Dubai's image as a safe, tax-free haven is rocked by blasts from Iranian airstrikes

The United Arab Emirates has sold itself to foreigners for years as a sunny, safe, tax-free oasis. Iran has hit the UAE and several of its neighbors as it strikes back from the major attack by U.S. and Israeli forces, causing fear and chaos in a place that until Saturday was predictably calm. “This is Dubai’s ultimate nightmare, as its very essence depended on being a safe oasis in a troubled region,” Cinzia Bianco, an expert on the Persian Gulf at the European Council on Foreign Relations wrote on X. “There might be a way to be resilient, but there is no going back.”